"Much more needs to be done by the financial advice profession, regulators and the Government to ensure that families are taking a more proactive and positive approach to financial planning"
Its nationwide study found that 64% of over-55s couples have never sought advice on their retirement plans and 25% have not discussed how much their partner has in pension savings. Nearly one in five (17%) admit to never having discussed financial planning.
This is despite 76% of over-55s couples having no approximate figure in mind of how much they will receive in retirement income.
More positively, couples are at least talking to each other with 61% discussing financial planning for retirement in the last year.
However, it adds up to a general lack of communication with wider family - three quarters of adults (73%) have never spoken about financial planning with their children, parents and other relatives.
Mike Morrow, wealth and platform director at Openwork, said: “Much more needs to be done by the financial advice profession, regulators and the Government to ensure that families are taking a more proactive and positive approach to financial planning as well as ensuring that couples in particular discuss their retirement plans together and with a qualified financial adviser.
“For couples, seeing an adviser can help them better understand their own position, with financial advisers skilled in ensuring they are on the same page when it comes to their current financial situation and priorities around long-term financial planning.
“Despite helpful online services such as The Pension Advisory Service, The Money Advice Service and the newly launched Money and Pensions Service providing some support, nothing can replicate the benefit of seeing a financial adviser.”